Buckle



A. MEEHAN Aug. 31, 192.7.`

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BUCKLE Filed Sept. 7, 1935 \NvENToR: y earz;

I ATTQRNEY.

Patented Aug. 31, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUCKLE Albert Meehan,Baltimore, Md. Application september '1, 1935, serial No. 39,508

4 Claims.

fication over my U. S. Patent #1,856,775, issued May 3rd, 1932, and U.S..Patent #1,856,776, issued May 3rd, 1932 to Thomas. A. McDermott andmyself.

One of the features of advantage resides in the mode of operative.attachment of the buckle to the coacting strap or belt end, for removalor replacement.

Another feature of advantage is in the structure of the buckle theerably three main parts, two of said parts forming the buckle-beltinterlocking and attaching means, the third part being a front gripperplate.

attached to one of the buckle faces by suitable means and which frontplate forms a Ymeansto.

open the buckle from the strap or belt, and which also may be ofornamental nature, and in some instances be made of. a` precious metalwhile the buckle itself may be made of a baser metal.

The foregoing, and other features of advantage will appear, as theherein description appears and it is obvious that modifications may bemade in the structure herein without departing from the spirit hereof orthe scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a sectional View taken on the line II, Fig. 3, looking in thedirection ofthe arrows, but including the strap or belt, also insection;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the buckle with the front portion opened;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the buckle;

Fig. 4 is an opposite side view of the buckle as shown open, in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a slightly modified form of buckle,similar to the sectional view of. Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a front of Fig. 5.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the buckle comprises a back plate 3, having aright angled floor portion l2, said latter portion at its outer extendededge having a slot S therein, and into which is connected a curled,cylindrical and narrow extension l0, which is integral with the frontelevation of the gripper plate same being made in pref-- buckle plate 2,thereby to form ahinge between thefront and back buckle plates.

The vbuckle plates are each provided with angled, coactingsnap locks land 8, snap lock l, on back plate 3, being integral with said plate and.of curved contour and having a thinned frontal edge l". 4

Front plateZ also has a curved, 4integral snap lock 8,Fig. 3, andthefrontal edge 8' thereof is,.also thinned. Snap lock 8, when the buckleis closed, asin Fig. 3,V overlaps snap lock l, with a lockinggrip and asboth of these lock members are resilient they by-pass. one over theother when the buckle members are separated, orA

"scribed `is relatively small, and as the snap lock 1.--8 is smooth'whenclosed it is difficult to open.

Toovercome this feature, agripper plate l of, generally,rlargerzdimension than the front buckle plate,-.2,is` suitably affixed tothe outer, exposed face'of buckle plate 2, so thatthe peripheral edgethereof is extended beyond the dimensions and contour offthe buckleplate2.. thereby to enable thelfingersfof the user to grip `said gripperplate I toopen or close the buckleplate 2. This gripper plate has. asecond-function, and that is to form an ornamental front for the buckle,where it is used on belts for personal wear to receive monograms and thelike, thereon, or any other form of embellishment, as desired. The frontplate may be in other contours than shown, as a concession to suchembellishment, but it still will perform the useful purpose of amanually manipulable grip.

The belt portion shown fragmentarily and in part section in Fig. 1, isprovided at one end with a looped portion, generally denoted by 5, theloop being formed by folding the end of belt portion B' upon itself andthen stitching the end to the belt as by stitches 6, or the loops may beformed by other means.

The inside face 5' of the belt loop, as in Fig. 1, is provided with twospaced apertures, which register with and permit the passingtherethrough of two belt latch pins 4-4 which are firmly riveted to theback buckle plate 3, as at Il, Fig. 3. As thus described, the completebuckle assembly, as shown in Fig. 3, may be removed from' the loop 5, byopening the buckle, as in Figs. 2 and 3, and then by tipping the backbuckle plate 3 upwardly from its hinge end, as viewed in Fig. 1, and inthe direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 2, the loop 5 is pried open andthe latch pins 4-4 are withdrawn from the holes.

2 aoeiee A reverse action replaces the back buckle to position as shownin Fig. 1.

The opposite end B of the belt, Fig. 1, is provided with a series ofperforations p, which are alined with one another in spaced relation,the spacing of which registers with the spacing of the pins 4 4, so thatthe end B may be adjusted on the pins 4, to conform to a proper beltadjustment.

The ends of the pins 4 4, extend beyond the outer face of the belt endB, and the extensions of said pins it into apertures 9 9 Fig. 2, in thefront buckle plate 2, when the buckle is closed and thus the riveted andextended ends are simultaneously supported against the strains of thebelt ends B and B. These strains Hatten loop 5 and cause it to hug theback buckle The portion of the loop 5 at the rear of the back plate actsas a cushion between the 2O person of the wearer and the back plate.

In'Figs. 5 and 6 the front gripper plate I as well as the front 2 mayhave the perforations 9 extended therethrough as at 9 9, Figs. 5 and 6,withthe pins 4 4 extended further so as to enter said holes 9 9 in thefront gripper plate l, and such extensions 4 4' may form the centralmotif of a design such as shown at c Fig. 6.

What I claim is:

1. A buckle of the class described, comprising a back plate and a frontplate, an oi'setl hinge s carried by one of their ends by one of saldplates, the other plate being provided with spaced apertures to form endengaging seats for the opposite ends of said pins, and a gripper platecarried by said other plate, said gripper .10 plate being provided withspaced apertures in registry with the apertures of said-other plate.

2. A buckle for a belt comprising a back plate having rising from itsopposite sides a snap member and a rigid member, means rigid with said45 plate for holding the inner end of a belt, said members having theirfront ends disposed forwardly of said inner end whereby to formY side,

guides for the outer end of the belt, a swingable front plate hingedlymounted on the forward end of said rigid member, and a snap memberextending from the other side of said front plate, said second snapmember being adapted to co- 5' operate in releasable locking engagementwith the first snap member, said means and said front plate adapted alsoto hold said outer end of the belt.

3. A buckle for a belt having a perforated 10 inner end and a perforatedouter or front end, said buckle including a back plate having sidemembers extending substantially as far forwardly as the front of saidfront end, at least one latch pin carried by said plate and adapted to15 one of said members having at the top thereof an integral hingeportion, the other memswingable front plate having at one of its sides20' to the combined rear to front dimensions ofsaid` ends, hinge meansconnecting one side of said front plate and the front part members, theother member being a plain snap lock element, and a plain snap lockelement extending from` the other side of said front plate forcooperating With the rst mentioned element.

ALBERT MEEHAN.

